US farm machine manufacturer John Deere and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) have signed a memorandum of understanding that ensures farmers have the right to repair their own farm equipment.
The right to repair allows individuals the ability to purchase software diagnostic tools that would allow them to take their equipment to a dealer of their choice to fix the problem or try to repair the machine themselves.
The memorandum of understanding follows several years of discussions between the two sides.
AFBF president Zippy Duvall said the agreement "addresses a long-running issue for farmers and ranchers when it comes to accessing tools, information and resources while protecting John Deere's intellectual property rights and ensuring equipment safety".
"A piece of equipment is a major investment. Farmers must have the freedom to choose where equipment is repaired, or to repair it themselves, to help control costs," Mr Duvall said.
He said the agreement "committed John Deere to ensure farmers and independent repair facilities had access" to "many of the tools and software needed" to keep the equipment running.
John Deere's senior vice president for farm and turf sales and marketing David Gilmore said the agreement reaffirmed the company's "longstanding commitment … to ensure our customers have the diagnostic tools and information they need to make many repairs to their machines."
Under the agreement, John Deere said it would engage with farmers and dealers to resolve issues when they arose and agreed to meet with the farm bureau federation at least twice per year to evaluate progress.
The agreement formalises farmers' access to diagnostic and repair codes and to operator, parts and service manuals and product guides, the news release said.
It also ensures farmers will be able to purchase diagnostic tools directly from John Deere and receive assistance from the manufacturer when ordering parts and products.
Australian farmers fight for right to repair
Farmers in Australia have also been fighting for a change to laws with agricultural machinery manufacturers such as John Deere, prohibiting individuals or independent repairers from fixing things.
In February 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a discussion paper focusing on concerns about manufacturer warranties and the servicing and repair of agricultural machinery. It also conducted an online survey seeking farmers' feedback about their experiences.
Its report in May 2021 said purchasers of agricultural machinery would benefit from more independent competition in servicing and repair markets.
The ACCC's inquiry was followed by a Productivity Commission report in late 2021 that found there were significant and unnecessary barriers to repair for some products.
It proposed a suite of measures that aimed to enhance consumers' right to repair, including changes to consumer and intellectual copyright laws.
The Productivity Commission said it wanted to see the recommendations implemented by the end of 2022.
In 2021, then-assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar said the government would consider how the report's recommendations interacted with existing policy to ensure the costs and benefits were measured and appropriate and would provide a response in early 2022.
AP/ABC
